Temple Guardian
by KingofLoosePages
Summary: Sasuke and Kakashi have to retrieve a sacred relic. Established KakaSasu. Done in prompt style, but it's a linear story.


**Rating: **M (for vio[M]lence and dra[M]a; lol)

**Warnings:** Slash/Yaoi, blood, death, misdirection, Ninja's!

**Diclaimer:** No, my name isn't Kishimoto. I don't think I could even change it to Kishimoto legally at this point. I'm just not that good.

**Note:** So this is all the fault of yaoiismy on y!gal. She got me hooked on this pairing with her art, damn her! Also, first time I've ever written a chronological story using prompts like this, I hope it worked okay!

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--Quiet--

Sasuke scoffed as he watched the enemy camp from the safety of Konoha's high trees. They'd been at this for days, playing this game of cat and mouse until one of them was caught. Sasuke knew what would happen if it turned out he was the mouse and he knew he couldn't let that happen. To many people depended on him for that.

The shadowy figure of a man poked at the fire one last time, then set up his food to cook. Sasuke took the opportunity provided by quietly sizzling fish to escape back to his own camp. They were much to close, he'd have to move.

Paranoid with how unknowingly close they'd gotten, Sasuke didn't sleep at all that night.

--Small--

Bushes were good cover for rabbits and little genin, but Kakashi was a tad larger than the average twelve year old. He knew that his prey was smaller than the average seventeen year old though, if only by shinobi standards.

It was a good thing to be small for the types of missions the shinobi grapevine claimed this particular rabbit went on. Kakashi cursed that smallness, as it hid the slim figure more effectively than any genjutsu could.

--Slight--

Sasuke didn't know whether to be amused or feel slighted when he saw how openly the enemy was wandering the forest. Simply moving along paths as if he had any right to be there. His mission wasn't to take out this target, so he chose amusement.

Long limbs covered by standard shinobi gear, the enemy's village symbol resting precariously on his forehead, sunlight glinting off the buckles of a weapons pouch. Sasuke felt something dark stir within him and sneered. There was no way he'd let this man beat him to the goal. Not with Naruto and Sakura counting on him.

--Peaceful--

Feeling the breeze ruffle his hair as he ran through Konoha's forest, Kakashi sped up. He had to reach the scroll before his prey. If he failed, the consequences would be dire. Closing his eye, briefly, to enjoy the feeling of warm sun on his darkly clothed body, he thought of Sasuke.

What was his dark haired teammate doing now? Was he enjoying the warmth of the sun, the breeze that cooled the day just enough to be pleasant? Did he think of Kakashi touching where that sun couldn't reach, running skilled fingers along pale skin, scratching his stubble playfully over quivering stomach muscles?

A black eye opened in time to avoid running into a thick tree. He swerved around it and hurried forward. The scent of the temple's incense shattering any sense of peace he'd had and filling the void with anticipation.

It was close.

--Temptation--

It was tempting, the glittering candles and cloying air around the little box he was to retrieve. He could see the ever watchful guardian of the box staring at him, suspicious eyes dark in the half-light of the room. Cautiously, Sasuke reached out a hand toward the box only to curse as wire cut him and his blood glinted on it.

Now that he was looking he could see the intricate webbing of ninja wire around the box. If he tried to reach for it, he'd be sliced to pieces. He knew that disturbing it could set off an even worse trap. Worse, ninja wire was incredibly resistant to regular shinobi methods of disarming or destroying things.

A commotion outside the door cause Sasuke to dart up the wall and shove himself into a small nook in the rafters. He suppressed his chakra as much as he could and watched as the paper of the door was shredded by a body smashing through it.

--Displeasure--

Coming upon the temple as the sun set, Kakashi let a grim satisfaction glint in his eyes. The air was thick with the scent of burnt incense and he was already beginning to regret his rather sharp sense of smell.

Creeping closer was easy, so was inspecting the temple for guards. The closer he got, however, the more Kakashi's skin tingled with unease. It was almost to easy.

As if to confirm his paranoia, a figure dropped from the ceiling and attacked him with a kunai. He dodged and caught a good look at his attackers white mask. Anbu? No, this wasn't animal themed. It was simply a blank white.

To his displeasure, a headache was already building.

--Triumph--

Grinning a little to himself, Sasuke dropped from the ceiling and snatched the box up. He flashed a mocking leer at the astonished man in the doorway and broke through another wall of paper to get outside quickly. He'd probably be scolded for it later by the Hokage.

He had the box though, that was all that mattered right then. Well, the box and escaping his quick pursuer. The man obviously hadn't liked having his target stolen right from under his nose.

--Jutsu--

Mission parameters stated that jutsu was only to be used if he felt his life in danger. They were trying to prevent detection and an obvious chakra trace like the remnants of a jutsu would be counterproductive.

Kakashi thought it was one of the Hokage's stupider ideas.

The Mask ran at him, kunai glinting in the light of a torch. Kakashi again dodged and pull out his own weapon.

Whoever it was attacking knew what they were doing. None of Kakashi's attacks landed, though a couple of the Mask's had. He had a few shallow cuts he'd need to check once he had retrieved the scroll.

--Exhilaration--

Sasuke felt adrenaline flood his system as he ran, pumping chakra into his legs to increase his speed. His pursuer sped up to match.

It had been along time since he'd had a challenge and Sasuke ached to stop and fight this man. Anyone who could keep up with him, other than Naruto, would certainly put up a good fight.

He couldn't let down his teammates though. Nor could he risk the box being taken from him by the enemy shinobi. The mission would be for nothing if he lost it.

--Shock--

Using a combination of luck, skill, and reflex; Kakashi slipped under Mask's defense and heaved his shoulder into the man's abdomen. He gasped and flew back through the paper door to smash against something and poof out of existence.

It was a clone? To be able to take two hits, it had to have been made by someone with a huge amount of chakra. Very few people could have done that, most of them Kakashi's on comrades.

Another glance around assured Kakashi the coast was clear. He took a step into the room and froze in shock. White teeth glinted in a mocking leer, the shadow of a man darting out of the room with incredible speed burned into Kakashi's mind.

He glanced at the pedestal, noting with growing alarm that the scroll which had been there was gone. He hurried from the room, after the thief. Left behind, the temple guardian's stone eyes watched after the pair mournfully.

--Desperation--

Now a little desperate to lose his chaser, Sasuke began to just from the ground to the trees. The black shadow followed, sticking to his trail with unnerving accuracy.

He could feel the unease bubbling in his throat. He was so close to safety, only a mile from the rendezvous point he'd set up with Kakashi before they'd been sent out on their missions. It was a tradition of theirs to meet up outside Konoha's gates and walk in together.

Gasping, Sasuke barely managed to drop from the tree and avoid the grab. His assailant stopped a little ahead of him and rushed forward to tackle him to the ground.

Sasuke grappled with the larger body for several long seconds. Strong hands were grasping at his vest, searching to the box he'd hidden in his weapons pouch.

The Uchiha didn't give him a chance. With vicious pleasure, Sasuke managed to free his arm and slam the sharp point of a kunai into the base of the man's skull.

Warm blood instantly painted his hand. The body's struggling stop and it sagged against him. Rolling it off, Sasuke grimaced at the stains on the front of his jounin vest.

A gloved hand reached out to pull the cover off of the body's head and sharingan red eyes widened. The hair was a blood stained gray.

--Peril-

Throwing chakra into his legs, Kakashi sped up again. This person was fast, almost as fast as Sasuke. If he hadn't practiced with his old student so often he wouldn't have been able to keep up.

When they took to the trees, Kakashi grinned a feral little grin behind his mask. It was foolish to use trees to escape when a Konoha shinobi was after you. They were uniquely suited to a forest environment after all.

The speed of his thief slowed, possibly because he was running out of chakra. Kakashi didn't care to ask though, simply reached out to grab the back of the shinobi's vest. They dodged his hand.

A trap?! Jumping ahead, Kakashi turned back to look at them. It was to dark in the forest to properly see a face, but the gleam of teeth was enough to position the head.

Determined to get that scroll, Kakashi dashed forward and tackled the body to the ground. He searched the vest first, then reached for the weapons pouch when it proved to be empty of his quarry.

Something glinted in the light of the moon, his black eye widened as a hand came down with a kunai.

--Nausea--

It was easy to stumble away from the body. Sasuke felt nausea churning angrily in his stomach and turned away as well. It wasn't him, couldn't be. They were set to meet at the rendezvous point, he was probably waiting right now.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath seemed to help. If he ignored the metallic tang of blood in his nose he could pretend he hadn't seen it.

Sasuke hurried away, leaving the cooling body on the forest floor. He was quick, desperate to reach their designated clearing. When he arrived it was quiet. There was no slight sign to lead Sasuke to Kakashi. No quiet footsteps or small sighs to tempt peace into Sasuke's mind.

Sinking to the ground, Sasuke stared unseeingly at the blood on his vest. He didn't want to feel this building sensation of horror in his gut anymore. He didn't think he could take the agony just waiting to rip into his heart.

--Chakra--

Kakashi rolled away from the kunai. His life was definitely in peril now. The Hokage would surely forgive him for the chakra trace he was about to leave.

A quick run of hand seals filled the woods with the sound of chirping bird. His dark haired thief coughed, blood splattering on Kakashi's vest. Kakashi pulled his hand out when the hands scraping at his arm fell limply to the dirt.

Methodically searching the pouches was easier now that he no longer had to fight off a struggling body. Kakashi recovered the scroll, wiped his arm off on the dead man's pants, and hurried off. Sasuke would be waiting for him in their clearing.

He felt a little bad for being late, but he hadn't expected someone to take the scroll from under his nose like that! Coming up on the break in trees, Kakashi deliberately stepped on a twig to alert the smaller man to his presence.

--Relief--

The dark head darted up to look toward the noise of a snapping twig. When Kakashi walked through the tree line, the Uchiha felt a powerful flood of relief wash over him.

Kakashi was even more splattered with blood than Sasuke. None of it was his, or if it was it wasn't a large amount. The red tinted gray hair in his mind dulled. Kakashi's hair was silver, clean, glinting in the moonlight.

His eye curved up to smile at Sasuke and the smaller man leaped to his feet to wrap his arms a little shakily around the taller jounin. He thought he'd killed him for one insane moment. Now that he could see his lover, _feel_ him in his arms, he couldn't see how he'd ever mistaken that old man for Kakashi.

--Comfort--

"Sasuke." Kakashi didn't know what was wrong with his lover. All he knew was that something had upset Sasuke and the younger man wanted comfort.

They didn't have much time, but he wrapped his own arms around Sasuke's stiff shoulders. They immediately relaxed.

"I thought I'd killed you."

Kakashi blinked at the words murmured into his bloody vest. They'd been on opposite sides of the forest, collecting the sacred items of some god or other for a client. Naruto and Sakura were getting the other two; a statue and a gem.

"You didn't."

"I know."

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Lol, I had you going there for a minute didn't I?! You thought he was dead, Ohohohohohoho! So anyway, I'm going to watch Avatar at my friends house tonight. You shoudl review and let me know if you like this story so I have something to occupy myself with while there. I may be an Avatard, but I've seen the damn movie in 3d six times already. I'm about Avatar-ed out here!

Taku


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